The Baltimore Native American Film Festival happening tonight, is a chance to see short films by native filmmakers

Marca Cassity, whose music video for 'More Than A Word' screens at the Baltimore Native American Film Festival

Marca Cassity, whose music video for 'More Than A Word' screens at the Baltimore Native American Film Festival

Brandon SoderbergCity Paper

Back in 2008, the National Museum of the American Indian curated a lengthy series titled “Film Indians Now!,” which put together a number of movies about—and more importantly by—native peoples. With the involvement of Chris Eyre, best known for "Smoke Signals,” and screenings of films like Kent Mackenzie's 1961 "The Exiles,” the festival highlighted a piece of film history and film scene often ignored or skipped over. I've thought about it a great deal since and the first Baltimore Native American Film Festival going on this week will do something similar for Native cinema on a local level. Curated by way of submissions, the Baltimore Native American Film Festival features a number of shorts spanning many styles and genres from all-Native American directors. Among the shorts you'll be able to see are Gregg Deal's "The Last American Indian on Earth," the music video for Osage folk singer Marca Cassity's 'More Than A Word,' and "Generations Speak," directed by festival organizer Zach Green. The first two hours of the event will be screenings and the final hour will be a discussion and Q&A with the filmmakers.